


Black Cloud

by dracox_serdriel



Series: Her Dark Works [17]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Abduction, Alternate Universe, Battle, Blackhood Leeches, Captive, Dark Magic, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Heart of the Truest Believer, Hearts, Land Without Magic, Lost Boys, M/M, Magic, Neverland, Sleeping Curse, Sleeping Spell, Smut, The Dark One (Once Upon a Time), The Jolly Roger, Violence, Werewolf, battles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-23 09:13:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6111868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracox_serdriel/pseuds/dracox_serdriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After escaping the bounty hunters in a Land without Magic, Cruella and her minions somehow overcome the Jolly Roger's defenses and board the ship. Emma and Killian must discover Cruella's ultimate endgame in order to protect those they love.</p><p><strong>Her Dark Works</strong> takes place in an alternate universe where Emma Swan was born and raised in the Enchanted Forest. One day, things go horribly wrong, and she abandons her birthright and throne to seek revenge on the Dark One. What happens when a woman born to be the Savior of the Realm joins forces with the Vengeful Pirate of Neverland?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected Journeys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma finds herself in a seemingly endless dream that she must escape in order to face the dire situation aboard the Jolly Roger.

**A few hours ago, on the Jolly Roger...** Emma sat at the cabin's dining table with her son and parents. She stared at Henry, studying his face. He'd grown so much, and she missed it. She'd missed too much.

"Mom, quit it," Henry said.

"Sorry, I... I'm sorry," she replied as looked away. "There was a time when I didn't think I'd see you again. Any of you."

"We knew you'd find us," her father said as he took Emma's hand.

"You did?" she asked.

"Of course," Snow said. "We knew you'd be too stubborn to ever give up."

"I wish I'd gotten here sooner," Emma said. "I... I didn't have your faith. At first I did, but then..."

"Dad died," Henry said, completing her sentence.

She turned to her son in surprise. How did he know?

"I'm sorry, Henry," Emma said. "I should've to tell you."

"What happened?" Henry asked. "When?"

"Not long after you were banished to this realm," she replied. "The Dark One thought I had been, too, so he erased Dad's memories, and they returned to the Dark Castle."

"Grampy made Dad forget us all?" Henry asked, horrified.

"He tried," Emma replied as her eyes began to burn with tears. "But you know Dad. He'd never forget you. He knew something was wrong, really wrong, before I swooped in to rescue him."

"Was it like in the storybooks?" Henry asked. "You know the ones that you and Grandpa and Grandma read to me where the hero uses True Love's Kiss to save everyone?"

"I wish I'd been smart enough to think of of that," she replied. "Dad already knew he was forgetting the most important person in his life. He could feel it. I barely had to do anything."

"But, you told me how dangerous it is to use magic on memory," Henry said, concern obvious in his voice. "You said that reversing it was difficult, and sometimes... did... did Dad remember me before he died?"

"Of course he did," Emma replied. She wiped her tears away and continued, "You're right, Henry. It shouldn't have been so easy. Your grandfather was the most powerful sorcerer in all the known realms. He probably knew more about magic than anyone who ever lived. But not even the strongest, most clever magic could make Dad forget you. He couldn't remember me, but he did recognize me. He trusted me. He drank the potion I made for him. It countered the memory charm, and everything came back to him in an instant. If he were anybody else... if it wasn't your father we were talking about, it might've taken months or years to do all that."

"Was it Grampy that kill Dad?"

"No, kid, no," she replied. "I know he's done a lot of unforgivable things but not that. He had the opportunity, but he never did. Once Dad remembered what happened, we started looking for a way here. We decided we couldn't leave Grampy in the Enchanted Forest."

Emma bit back the bitterness of referring to the man who ruined her life as 'Grampy' again, but Henry had called Rumpel that since he was old enough to speak. (He likewise referred to Belle as a grandparent, despite her frequent requests to be called by her name. It took him nearly two years to stop calling her 'Grammy.') No matter what he did, Rumpel would always be family.

"You tried to bring Rump-uhh, Grampy here?" her father asked. "To a Land without Magic?"

"It was Neal's idea," she replied. "Same plan as when he was kid. Take his father to a Land without Magic so he wouldn't be the Dark One anymore. We thought if we could get him here, then... whatever else happened, at least here he wouldn't have any magic. He wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else."

"But it didn't work," Henry said.

"No, kid, it didn't. The Dark One figured out our plan and changed the portal so it sent you wherever you were thinking of instead of here. I think he meant it to be a diversion, because it closed as soon as he escaped, but not before Dad fell in."

"Where did he go?"

"Neverland," she replied. "A few days later, he was brought back to the Enchanted Forest. He had been poisoned with Dreamshade, and he didn't... he only had a few minutes with me before... he only had enough time to say he loved us both before he died."

"But True Love's Kiss can break any curse," Henry said.

"It can," Emma replied. "It's the most powerful magic of all, Henry. I tried, of course I tried, but Dreamshade isn't a curse. True Love's Kiss can't remedy poison anymore than it can heal a wound or cure the plague."

It was only half a lie. She had kissed Neal, but the truth was that she didn't know if he was her True Love. She loved him, and she never worried about it being True Love or regular love or cared about how anyone could tell the difference anyway. It didn't matter to her, and she never thought about it. Not until it was too late. Not until Neal was dying, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Who did it?" Henry asked. "You said he was brought back... who brought him back?"

"Pan's shadow," Emma answered. "It said something about Pan and the Dark One, an old feud, before it left. Henry, I'm so sorry I couldn't save him. I tried, but I failed. I'm sorry."

Henry looked away, the tears flowing down his cheek. She knew this hurt him more than any other son learning of his father's demise. Because even though Henry hadn't been born with magic like her, he believed in it with all his heart. He believed in True Love's Kiss and Happy Endings the way that Snow and Charming did, despite her cynicism and Neal's jaded outlook on magic. Their son had always believed, yet today his mother told him that even the most powerful magic in all the realms couldn't save his father's life.

"I'm glad you're here," Henry said, wiping his tears away. "I'm sorry Dad couldn't be here with us, but, you're here. You found us. That's what matters."

Emma reached across the table and hugged her son, planting a kiss on his forehead.

"I missed you so much," she said.

"Me, too, Mom."

Her parents gave her and Henry a few moments. When Emma returned to her seat, they exchanged a loaded glance before her father spoke.

"So, Captain Hook?" he asked.

 

Emma was sprawled out across the the bridge of the Jolly Roger, her body rolling back and forth with the swaying of the ship, occasionally crashing into Killian. Did they both fall asleep at the helm? That didn't seem right.

Her mind flickered. She was apart from Killian and next to an unconscious Regina.

What the hell?

Before she could reflect on it too much, it happened again. This time all three were crushed together with Regina pinned against the bottom of the helm.

Emma's skin was raw from rubbing against wood. A harsh wind chilled her to the bone. Why had she gone on deck at night without a long coat? Her heart ached when she realized Killian only had on a light gown and trousers. She needed to snap out of it and get him back to his bed.

It happened again, but this time, she dreamed about her time with Killian, before Blackbeard and the Crocodile slaughtered his crew, before she became cursed as the Dark One. But she knew something was wrong.

She shouldn't be dreaming or sleeping. She had to wake up. Now.

She opened her eyes. She was below deck somewhere dark. Was it still night? She couldn't tell. There was something she needed to do. She needed to get up, but every time she summoned the will to move, it was as if she dreamed it instead of doing it. She dreamed of rising from her bunk to wake Henry and her parents, but at the same time, she knew it wasn't real.

She just couldn't stop it.

Emma looked around. She wasn't in their cabin. She was alone in the brig. That explained the darkness. Her hands were bound. Regina and Killian were in adjacent cells, tied down to their bunks. But he had been badly injured. He was supposed to be in the mess with the doctor, not in his own brig. 

Again, her mind collapsed into a dream, and it took her longer to realize it this time. She and Killian were fighting Wurms, Manticores, Giant Rodents, and all manner of beasts, catching only fleeting glimpses of Cora laughing at them while the monsters destroyed her kingdom.

But that wasn't right. Cora was dead. Killian decapitated her, so how could she be attacking her kingdom?

She opened her eyes to the real world again, wondering why she couldn't snap out of it.

"Something is causing it."

Emma looked up to see... herself speaking. She was dressed in dark leather with a high color, and her features were stark down to the tight bun of white-blond hair. 

It didn't make sense, though. She was in bed, and she had never looked like that.

"Can you hear me?" the dreary version of herself said. "Good. Listen closely. Something is doing this to you. Do you hear me? Something is doing this to _you_. The only way that can happen is if you let it happen. You are too powerful for something like this to work. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?"

Emma wasn't sure if this was a dream or a hallucination, but her lackluster doppelganger was making sense. If she couldn't wake up, it was because someone or something was trying to keep her under.

And she had to break free.

Her hands slid up to a slimy bulge on her neck. She forced herself to swallow her panic. If she panicked, she could fall asleep again, and she risked forgetting about the... whatever the hell it was on her neck.

Realizing none of this was making sense, she focused on the bump. What could it be? What kept someone dreaming when they wanted to wake up? Ugh, and why was it so gross?

There was no answer. As far as she knew, there was nothing that kept someone asleep by... Wait. No, there was nothing that kept someone asleep, but there was something that altered a person's experience of time: a Blackhood Leech. It was placed on the back of the neck over the spine, and once attached, it altered the host's experiences, sometimes expanding one night into a hundred years and other times shrinking a lifetime into a handful of hours.

But Blackhood Leeches weren't the average parasite. A dark sorcerer had to conjure and rear them, and whatever power they had would be greatly diminished in a Land without Magic, if any survived at all.

If a Blackhood Leech was affecting her, they must be in a realm of magic. And that meant that Emma Swan was again the Savior of the Realm and the Dark One.

She pinched the leech and poured her power into desiccating the vile thing. It screeched, and it lashed out at her, sending waves of pain all over her body. But that only served to make her stronger.

She yanked the parasite off of her and threw it on the ground. It was large, about the size of her own fist, which meant whoever put that thing on her must've known she had magic. She watched as it shriveled up and turned to dust.

Emma immediately went to Killian. At first she thought he was sleeping, but she couldn't wake him. She checked him for injuries, finding only the gunshot wound, still healing, but the bandaged looked fine. He was all right.

She cast a wary glance over to Regina, who was also unconscious. It must be some kind of sleeping spell.

Whoever did this must've put the leech on Emma because she resisted the spell, and while she knew the situation was far from good, she now also knew one important thing: whoever did this didn't know she was the Dark One. It was widely known that the Dark One was impervious to virtually all magicks, including Blackhood Leeches.

What happened to get her here? She tried to remember last night. She had gone for a walk on deck to clear her head after her reunion with Henry and her parents.

_Henry and her parents._

They were on board. Emma had left the cabin and met Killian on deck under the moonlight. Then Regina had collapsed, and... it all happened so quickly.

The specifics didn't matter. She needed to know that her family was safe, and to do that, she needed help.

Emma focused on Killian, on how much he had done for her and how much she wanted him to live. Her hands glowed with purple-and-green light. She touched his wound, and it began to disappeared, like the injury was being burned away.

His eyes snapped opened, and he screamed.

* * *

Killian hadn't experienced pain like this before.

Sure, he'd had his hand cut off with a magically heated blade after watching the Crocodile murder his love. He had been nearly drowned, stabbed, strangled, beaten, and shot. He had experienced a crushing curse, disembowelment, and even immolation.

But those pains were but a shadow of the agony billowing through his body at this moment. It felt like he was being torn apart and reassembled. Worse, it was like someone was flaying each layer of his body to hasten the process of his flesh and blood and bone sloughing off.

Like a serpent shedding its skin.

He gasped as air hit his renewed lungs. The metaphor was apt. Whatever was happening to him now, it wasn't killing him. It was healing him.

"Killian!"

He knew that voice. Emma. The pain subsided.

He sat up and saw his Swan standing over him, her eyes filled with concern. He kissed her with wild abandon for no reason other than she was near.

At least, that was what he told himself.

When they broke apart, he realized how wrong this was. He was locked in his own bloody brig for one thing, which explained why it was so dim. For another, Emma's hair wasn't the same as it had been the night previous, before whatever transpired to land them in the brig.

He explored her face. Even in the poorly-lit brig, the change was drastic but familiar. Her golden hair was now nearly white, and her features had sharpened. 

"Bloody hell, Swan," he said as she realized she was the Dark One again. "What's happened? Was their a mutiny on my bloody ship?"

"I don't know," Emma replied.

Dread crept up on him, but it wasn't typical fear or anxiety. It was like someone just walked over his grave. 

"Where are we?" he asked, though part of him already knew. "Which realm?"

She shook her head, and he went to the tiny hatch that served as a window for the brig. It was silly, really. It was too thin to look out without being eye-level, and it was far too high for him to reach.

As if by his own thought, his feet left the ground, and he floated up and up until his hair touched the ceiling.

He turned to look at Emma, who had her hand out. She was levitating him. He gave her a warm smile before turning back to the hatch.

The smile slid right off his face when he saw a familiar island. Any chance at denial disappeared when he saw the telltale skull-shaped isle.

Neverland.

Bloody _Neverland_.


	2. Blood Knot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killian attempts to temper Emma's ferocity as they deal with a volatile situation in Neverland.

Killian did his best to keep up with Emma, though being awoken from the sleeping spell and healed at the same time had left him a bit drained.

Emma cast a glamor spell to take on her old appearance so none would be the wiser about her being the Dark One. Only a handful of people had discovered her secret so far: Ingrid, who would never betray her trust; Cora, who was dead; Hades, who didn't socialize outside of the Underworld; and Zelena, who was locked up in Camelot and, with any luck, presumed insane by her jailors.

She insisted that the choice was strategic, and he didn't challenge her on it. There would be time for that after they figured out what the bloody hell happened on his ship.

He suggested that they leave Regina to slumber in her cell for the time being. While she was powerful, Killian didn't trust her, and she didn't know the Jolly Roger like he and Emma did.

Emma used her magic to scout the ship, exploring every deck for enemies or unknown persons.

"The only people aboard are unconscious," she said. "Most are in the general crew bunks, tied down."

"Any above deck?"

"Not that I can sense," she replied.

Still, they stepped carefully as they made their way to the bridge. The Jolly Roger was deserted.

"So someone hijacked my ship and stranded us in Neverland?" Killian asked.

"I don't think so," she replied. "Last night, there were nineteen people aboard, not counting Sidney."

"Aye, what of it, love?"

"Right now, there're only sixteen," she replied. "The dagger, Killian. I need it."

"Swan?"

"My shadow," she replied. "Whatever else we do, whatever else is happening, we need to get the kids out of Neverland as soon as possible."

"I hid it in the same place as last time."

"We'll need another vessel to send them to my sister," Emma continued. "She'll keep them safe."

"Am I to assume that we will remain aboard the Jolly in Neverland in order to locate our missing number?" Killian asked.

"Assuming they're missing," she replied. "Killian, I know you hate this place, but we need to know what the hell happened."

"Pan's bloody shadow carried my ship here," he replied. "Like it's done dozens of times before. I should've known I could never be truly free of that demon."

"I'll need some time," she said. "To cut away my shadow and reverse the sleeping curse. We get everyone awake and together, and then we figure out who's missing and where they went."

"Aye love," he said.

She walked off, and he looked over the lifeboats, including the recent addition that Emma had stolen. Truth be told, the better option would be his gig, but none of them had a sail.

His mind conjured up images of the emerald object flying through the sky from the night before. Regina had called it a Hot Air Balloon. He might be able to create a similar structure by tying down some of the spare sailcloth to the four corners of the gig with a few lines to create a curve. It could work. They could make a kind of parachute that her shadow could carry.

He went below deck for the extra cloth and ropes. He hauled all the requisite materials back to the main deck, where he laid it out. 

His work was interrupted, however, when he heard screaming from his cabin.

* * *

Emma had detected three adults and one child in the captain's cabin. She assumed it was her parents, Henry, and Robin, but when she went inside, she found Roland instead.

Where was Henry?

She shouldn't worry. She had gotten up for a late night walk, so perhaps she had disturbed him when she left. It was Henry's first time on a real pirate ship. He probably went exploring and fell asleep elsewhere when the sleeping spell hit.

Before anxiety got the better of her, she cut away her shadow and returned the dagger to its hiding spot.

That's when she saw the yellowing bruise on her mother's cheek. She hadn't had that the night before. There was also a brown splotch on the back of her neck. Another Blackhood Leech. What the hell?

Her father didn't have one, but both Roland and Robin did. Admittedly, the leeches used on these three were much smaller, but why bother with them at all? She assumed the leech was used on her because her inborn magic resisted the sleeping spell. But her mother didn't have magic at all; in fact, the Evil Queen once put her under the Sleeping Curse.

Emma couldn't think of a reason, so she refocused her efforts. Luckily, the sleeping spell required a simple counter curse to repel, which took no time at all. She removed the leeches, killing them with her touch before tugging them free and crushing them to dust. 

Her father was the first to stir, but her mother woke first and shouting.

"Emma! Emma!" Snow said loudly. 

"Mom, relax, I'm right here."

"They've taken him!" Snow said. "Roland and Robin and I, we tried to stop them. But they found him, and they took him!"

"Mom, mom!" Emma said, trying to calm her mother. "Who? Who did they take?"

She already knew before her mother replied.

"Henry. Emma, I'm so sorry," she said. "We did everything, but the spell put everyone to sleep, and - "

"I'm going to get him back," Emma interrupted. 

"Snow, Emma... what happened?" her father asked.

"Emma? Emma?" Killian said as he yanked the door open. "What's going on, Swan?"

"Henry," she said, forcing herself to keep calm. "We need to get everyone on the main deck. Now."

"Aye, love."

She pushed passed him and went straight the bridge. Fury, wild and potent, roared inside her, demanding release, and she felt it then, all her magic at her fingertips, ready to burn.

She held back. She would need every bit of it to exterminate those who took her son.

* * *

A few hours later, Killian found himself with Emma on the beach of the cursed island of Neverland. He felt anxious. He hated this place, and he didn't like how they had left things on the ship.

He had shared his plan about converting the gig into a vessel that Emma's shadow could carry to the Enchanted Forest with Snow, Charming, and Robin. They had all agreed that all the children must leave Neverland as soon as possible. After they gathered everyone else on the main deck, they discovered that Melinda - or, rather, Maleficent - and her daughter had also disappeared the night previous. Regina promptly concluded that they betrayed the location of the Jolly Roger, and an uproar ensued.

Emma silenced them all and handed out orders. Senior was to pilot the Jolly closer to the island while she and Killian went ahead to scout for Pan. Everyone else was to prepare the gig so her shadow could take the other children - and whoever else wished to leave - back to the Enchanted Forest. Protests followed, but Emma just grabbed his arm and teleported them away in a swirl of blue and gold smoke.

Before he could voice his opinion, she marched into the jungle without so much as a compass. He couldn't blame her for being worried or impatient, but she was being reckless.

"Swan, where are you going?" he asked.

"Smoke," was all she said.

Indeed, there was smoke rising above the trees not too far inland. The Lost Boys never stayed so close to the shore, but even if they had starting doing so since he had escaped this vile place, storming into one of their camps was suicide.

 _Except the Dark One is immortal_ , Killian thought. What else could he do but follow after her?

"Please, help!" 

A woman's voice. That was odd. He drew his cutlass as they closed in.

"I can hear you out there!" the woman yelled. "Please, we need help!"

They reached a clearing with a pitiful fire. A woman he didn't recognize was holding a badly wounded man. Killian knew his face. This was the man who insisted they leave him for dead after Dot had shot him in the woods.

In the blink of an eye, his cutlass was at the woman's throat.

"Why should we help you?" he asked.

"Please, you don't understand," the woman pleaded.

"Where is my son?" Emma asked.

"They took him!"

"Your name's Tamara, isn't it?" Emma asked.

She nodded her head, yes.

"Listen very closely, Tamara. In this realm, I have magic. Powerful magic. I could heal your friend," Emma said. "Or I could use it strangle you both. So tell me, who took my son? Where is he?"

"I... his name is Felix," Tamara said. "He's a Lost Boy."

"What is woman like you doing in Pan's service?" Killian asked.

"I'm not!" she said. 

Emma flicked her wrist, and Tamara screamed as an invisible force dislocated her left pinky. 

"Don't lie."

"I'm not, I swear I'm not! Please, if you can save Greg, I'd do anything. I'll tell you everything. All of it."

Vines suddenly appeared, binding Tamara and Greg hand and foot. A thick layer of soil covered Greg, and Tamara screamed as she saw her companion being buried alive. But in the next instant, a great wind blew hard, scattering the dirt and revealing an unconscious but now-healed Greg.

"I held up my end," Emma said. "Now, speak."

"We were agents of an organization dedicated to ridding our realm of magic. We called it the Home Office," Tamara said. "Cruella recruited me and started me on small time stuff. About six years ago, I got paired with Greg, and the cases changed. Our job used to be identifying artifacts, finding and destroying them. But suddenly we were focusing on people. Capture and interrogation. Figuring out which realm they came from, how they got here, what their intentions were."

"Get to the point where you kidnapped my son," Emma said impatiently.

"All the years we worked for the Home Office, we had standing orders to look for a boy, even had a sketched picture of him," Tamara said. "Everyone who worked there got that memo. Then out of the blue, Dot shows up with this hand drawn image that's an exact match for this boy, and everything changed, including our current mission. Our orders were to corral all your people back onto your ship, including the boy and that woman, Melinda. Once you were all off dry land, we were to give the signal. Knew it was big when Cruella herself turned up. We got into a hot air balloon and were taken to... hell, I thought it was just a huge rock until we landed, then I saw it was a ship. Cruella had a staff that put most of you to sleep. John and Michael were in charge of the back up plan, but I don't know what the hell that was. The ship was carried here, and we took Henry, Melinda, and her daughter to this island."

"Well then, where the bloody hell are they now?" Killian asked.

"I don't know," Tamara said. "This was supposed to be the Home Office, but that thing took us here. We came ashore as ordered, and a bunch of teenagers showed up. Only name I got was the guy barking orders: Felix. He gave Cruella a box or something, I didn't really see it. Then that shadow came and took her and the two captive in the hot air balloon. I don't know where they went. Your boy... we had brought him with us. On shore. Felix ordered Michael and John to carry him into the jungle, and that was the last time I saw him, I swear to you. I swear. The rest of them attacked Greg and I, and we've been running ever since."

"Welcome to Neverland," Killian said. "Now that you've met the Lost Boys, perhaps you'll answer us this question: why did Pan want the boy?"

"No one ever said, and I never asked."

"Where did they take my son?" Emma asked again.

"I don't know. I swear, I've told you everything," Tamara replied. "You said you had magic. Can you send us home? We've been running and fighting for over a week. If we stay here, this place will kill us."

"A week?" Emma repeated. "We just arrived last night."

"No, we got here eight days ago," Tamara said.

"Are you telling me that my son has been held captive on this island for eight days?" Emma demanded.

"Yes... yes, he has."

Emma walked over to her and punched her in the face, throwing her to the ground and knocking her out.

"What shall we do with them?" Killian asked.

"Nothing," she replied. "Like she said, this place will kill them. After everything they've done, they deserve it."

Killian could hardly disagree with her, but now they had a bigger problem. He wanted to approach the topic with care, given Emma's volatile state, but time was against them. 

He said, "Swan, if Henry has been with Pan for eight days - "

"I know," she interrupted. "He's becoming a Lost Boy, if he isn't one already."


	3. Tempest Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After discovering that they have been stranded in Neverland for over a week, Killian convinces Emma to launch a reconnaissance mission to discover the means to thwart Peter Pan's plot. They scour the island searching for allies, they find themselves thrust into a frantic rescue mission to save Henry.

Emma waited for Killian on the edge of the jungle, just as he requested. It went against everything her instincts were telling her, but she did it. He was right about one thing: Pan was a formidable opponent. If they wanted to best him, they'd need all they help they could get.

Truth be told, she didn't care about killing or defeating Pan. All she wanted was to rescue her son. If she could escape this island with Henry at her side, then Pan could rot here for all she cared.

Of course, she wanted Pan to suffer and die for abducting her son. She wanted to unleash a gale of wrath upon him that would chip pieces of him away until he was nothing more than dust. That was the Dark One in her talking, and she feared this time she might have to heed its council.

If what Tamara had said was true, that Pan had been looking for Henry for such a long time - possibly since before he was born - then he must need Henry for something, and he'd never let such a prize escape his custody. Not without a battle. She may well have to slaughter the little demon to protect Henry.

But for now, her energies were focused on rescuing her son, and to do that, she needed to find him first.

She closed her eyes and reached out with her magic, exploring the island. The Enchanted Forest had magic at its core, but here in Neverland, magic and imagination intertwined, amplifying one another. The power boost it provided was intoxicating.

She surveyed the island, searching for her son, but her magic wasn't strong enough to see the faces of those she found. She could, however, sense height, size, and age.

There were a number of Lost Boy camps, each containing between four and twelve teenagers, but she found one that also had three adults in their early twenties, all inside bamboo cages. She made a mental note of their location.

"Swan," Killian said as he came out of the jungle.

Her eyes snapped open to see her pirate and a young woman with dirty blond hair dressed in green, fraying clothing.

"This is Tinker Bell," Killian said. "Tin, this is Emma Swan."

"Pleased to meet you," Tink said.

"You as well," she replied.

"Hook told me that Pan has your son," Tink said. "He also told me you can get me out of this realm."

"We can," Emma said. "Will you help us? Tell us what you know about what Pan's up to?"

"Very little, to be honest," Tink said. "Pan leaves me alone so long as I leave him alone, a similar arrangement to what he had with a young boy named Baelfire. He discovered how to get off this island: trapping Pan's shadow. You can force it to do your bidding long enough to escape this realm."

"You knew Baelfire?" Killian asked.

"No, just the legend," Tink replied. "He was the only one who ever escaped this place without Pan's permission. At least, that's what people say. I've deciphered his plan from the cave he used to live in. With your help, I can enact it."

"We don't need Pan's shadow to leave," Emma said. 

"Perhaps," Tink said. "But if we trap it, we can destroy it."

"How does that help my son?" Emma asked. 

"That shadow allows Pan to be in two places at once," Killian replied. "It's his strongest warrior. It's how he collects Lost Boys from other realms. It's how he dragged all of us here. If he were to lose it, he'd be stuck in Neverland forever."

"If we get the chance, we'll kill the shadow," Emma said. "But right now, we need to find my son, and to do that, we need someone who actually knows what the Lost Boys and Pan have been up to for the last week."

"Well, you're in luck," Tink said. "Pan has a captive that he always keeps close. If we rescue her and promise her a way off this island, she'll gladly help us. Her name is Wendy Darling."

Emma laughed mirthlessly before she asked, "Wendy Darling, as in the sister to John and Michael?"

"I'm not sure," Tink replied. "Is that important?"

"I know where they are," was all Emma replied.

* * *

Killian attempted to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't   
listen. It wasn't enough to steal a prisoner from Pan; no, she wanted to punish him. Destroying the largest Lost Boy camp on the island was a good hard strike to the little demon's home and pride.

Luckily, the Lost Boys were undisciplined, rarely bothering with keeping watch when they slept. So they waited for night to fall, when the camp would be unguarded. Then Emma grabbed his and Tink's hands, and they were enveloped in black smoke. When it cleared, they stood by a fire in a clearing with ten sleeping Lost Boys.

Immediately, Emma conjured an ensnarement charm that called roots and vines to bind them. The bindings moved slowly, so as not to disturb their sleep, and Emma began moving from boy to boy, making sure Henry wasn't among them.

Meanwhile, Tink went in search of the prisoners, and Killian collected the weapons. Most of them were spears and bows, but there were also knives and a few machetes. He gathered the arrows and spears and dropped them onto the fire, and he bundled the other weapons to be disposed of elsewhere.

"What the - what's happening?" a Lost boy asked.

He wasn't the only one. Those who were not awoken by the ensnarement spell taking them hostage were roused from their sleep by the screaming. It was pure cacophony. 

"I can't move!"

"My knife! Where's my knife?"

"Invaders! Invaders!"

Emma returned and joined Killian.

"Any sign of him, Swan?"

"No, Henry's not here," she replied. "We found the prisoners. Tink is getting them out now."

The Lost Boys continued their shouting, so Emma stepped right by the fire to get their attention. Silence fell.

"Good," she said. "Listen very closely. I didn't come here for you. I came here for my son, Henry. He's almost thirteen. Brown hair, brown eyes. He came here eight days ago. Whoever tells me where he is will be rewarded."

"Pan never fails!" one of the boys shouted.

"Pan never fails!" another said.

Soon it became a resounding chorus chanted by the Lost Boys as they struggled against their restraints. He could see that Emma was losing her patience, so he intervened. 

"Come on, love, it's clear these boys know nothing," he said loudly as he joined her by the fire. "These aren't Lost Boys, they're pawns. And can you blame Pan for not telling them anything? They can't even guard prisoners. Let us walk right in and take them, didn't they?"

That certainly got their attention.

"We're not pawns! We're the best soldiers Pan has!" one shouted.

"We're entrusted to keep his most important secrets!"

"Pan knows how important we are!"

"See, love, they're just silly little children," Killian said, baiting them some more. "Let's go. We'll find another camp where they might actually know something."

The rising tempers of the Lost Boys assured him that his ruse would've worked. Unfortunately, before their captives could say anything else, a spear came flying out of the darkness, and he had to dive to the ground to avoid it.

Arrows followed, flying from every direction, but Emma waved her hand and they froze mid-air before turning into dust. She didn't move one jot. She didn't have to.

"Well, well, well," someone said. "Looks like we got a fighter, boys."

"Perhaps this gentleman could enlighten us on Henry's whereabouts," Killian said.

"Name's Felix, or have you forgotten, Hook?" the boy said as he stepped into the light of the fire. "So someone's finally come looking for Henry? You're a little late."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Emma asked.

"I mean, Henry's the most violent Lost Boy that's ever been brought to this island," Felix said with a smile. "He just _loves_ having magic. Of course, it's not his magic. If he leaves the island, he'll go back to being just an ordinary boy, and who would want that?"

"Give me back my son!" she shouted.

"You don't have a son! You abandon him, and now, he's a Lost Boy!" Felix replied. "You're too late!"

Emma threw a fireball at the boy, who dodged it without trouble. She seemed ready to make another, but then she stopped moving.

"Killian..." she said.

"Uhh-uhhh-ahhh," Felix said, wagging his finger. "Pan is gonna want you just like this."

Killian tackled the Lost Boy that had snuck up behind Emma to the ground, where the entrapment spell tangled him in roots and vines. But that didn't change the fact that Emma was already paralyzed.

"Squid ink," Felix said as he walked the perimeter of the camp. "Stuns even the most powerful magical creatures, Savior. Or didn't you know that?"

Killian took the spear that had been thrown at them and heaved it at Felix, who screamed when sliced his thigh open.

"That was uncalled for!" Felix shouted. "And stupid on your part, Captain. Pan left orders to capture the Savior. He doesn't care what happens to you. Arrows!"

They came flying from all around, and Killian parried them with his sword. He wanted to tap into Emma's magic, but something - probably the squid ink - was blocking their connection.

"Felix, the cages, they're gone," a boy said as he came out of the trees. 

"Then go and find them!" Felix shouted. "They can't've gotten far! Go!"

"Emma, how long will this last?" Killian whispered.

"I don't know," she replied. "They hit me with a lot of it, and it's... amplified somehow."

"Imagination," Felix said. "It's a powerful thing especially when wielded by a Lost Boy. Come on, lads! That pirate is a sitting duck! The tops to anyone who hits him!"

The air became filled will all manner of weapons: arrows, spears, throwing knives, rocks, and so on.

"Killian, just go!" Emma shouted.

"I'm not leaving you here!"

Killian evaded as best he could, but he couldn't avoid them all. A knife sliced through his leather vest, though it didn't go deep enough to get his tunic, and an arrow grazed his forearm.

"Bloody hell!" he hissed.

Another arrow grazed Killian's arm. How long did this bloody squid ink last? When Emma used it on the Crocodile, it felt as if it had only been a few seconds. He wasn't sure how many Lost Boys surrounded them, but he couldn't take them on without Emma. His only hope was to parry the worst of it until she was free.

"Face it, pirate! You're outnumbered, and you don't stand a chance!" Felix taunted.

"Save yourself, Killian," Emma pleaded. "Please, save yourself."

"Listen to the Savior, pirate!" Felix said. "Do what you've been doing for centuries. Save yourself!"

It distracted him just long enough for a spear to hit him in the foot. The pain made his knee buckle. He removed it.

His cursing was drowned out by a long, chilling howl.

"What was that?" Felix asked.

Killian heard the fear in his voice. He was terrified. They all were. The assault came to a screeching halt.

Another howl went out.

"There are no wolves on this island!" Felix shouted, as if saying it would make it so.

Emma asked, "Even on the night of the full moon?"

Her words had an immediate and palpable effect. The Lost Boys that had surrounded them came into the camp ground, no longer caring about Killian or Emma. Some even discarded their weapons to climb trees to escape the approaching werewolf.

With their positions revealed and their attention redirected, Killian attacked. All he needed to do was knock them to the ground of the campsite and disarm them; the ensnarement charm would do the rest. He took three out before any of them even thought to fight back.

An older boy with a machete clashed with his cutlass. He was skilled by Lost Boy standards, but Killian let him gain a little ground, drawing him in. But before he could strike the disarming blow, a fireball struck the boy, and he crumped to the ground in a heap.

Then the wolf was upon them, easily casting Lost Boys into the dirt with little more than running too close to them. Those who had scurried up trees fell from their perches as blasts of magic went flying.

A second sword joined his, and soon the camp ground ensnared twenty-five Lost Boys, including Felix.

"Fine mess you two have gotten yourselves into," Regina said with distain. "What's the matter with the Savior?"

"Some kind of squid ink," Killian replied. "How did you find us?"

"Did you think you were being stealthy?" Regina asked. "Believe me, this was easy to find."

"Can you get me free of this?" Emma asked her.

"Free you from squid ink? No, all we can do is wait until it wears off," Regina replied.

"No," Emma said. "Don't. Henry's been stuck here for days. Pan's messing with his head. You have to find him."

"Pan never fails!" Felix shouted.

"I've worked hard to change my ways," Regina said to Felix. "For the past three years, I lived as Regina, not the Evil Queen. So I won't do what I want to do right now, young man. I will politely ask - "

"Screw that!" Emma shouted. "He won't tell you a damn thing unless you make him."

"What do you propose?" Regina asked with mock innocence.

Fearing that Emma's secret was about to be spilled, Killian spoke up before she could. 

"Isn't it obvious, Regina?" he asked. "Rip the bastard's heart out and force him to tell us Henry's location!"

The words were like a poison to him. They conjured up memories of the Crocodile ripping out Milah's heart and crushing it, but he said them anyway. As far as Killian knew, Felix was the longest surviving Lost Boy, and he worshiped Pan. He would never betray him. 

Regina gave him a wicked smile. "Why, Captain, I never knew you were so dark!"

Then she ripped out Felix's heart.

"Tell me the truth," Regina said. "Where is Henry?"

"With Pan!" Felix said, fighting her with everything he had. "Henry is with Pan!"

"And what is Pan's location at this time?" Regina asked.

"He's... he's... at Skull Island!" Felix finally replied.

"Why does Pan want Henry?"

"I don't know."

"Tell me the truth!" Regina shouted. "Why did Pan kidnap Henry?"

"I don't know!"

"What does Pan plan to do with Henry?"

"I don't know!"

"Who is Henry to Pan?" Regina demanded, clearly becoming frustrated.

"The boy who believes," Felix replied.

"What does that mean?"

"He's the boy with the Heart of the Truest Believer," Felix said. "Pan has been searching for him for centuries. Waiting for him. But I don't know why. I don't know!"

"Sleep, you fool," Regina ordered.

When Felix went slack, she shoved his heart back into his chest.

"What should we do with all them?" Red asked as she joined them, wearing a glaringly red cloak.

"We should take them prisoner," Mulan said.

"Leave them here, we've no use for them," Regina said.

"We should take them," Emma cut in. "Pan brought them here for a reason."

"You're a fool if you think that Pan gives a damn what happens to these boys," Regina said.

"Aye," Killian said. "But Pan did drag them to this land, and that demon doesn't do anything for no reason."

Regina smiled again at him. "I could get used to working with you, Hook, but perhaps I should point out the obvious. There's nowhere to hold prisoners."

"The brig of the Jolly," Killian replied. 

"You want to fill your ship with Lost Boys?" Regina asked. "They outnumber us."

"Then bind them with a spell," he suggested.

He didn't wait for Regina's next quip. Instead, he turned to Emma, who was still struggling to free herself from the squid ink. 

"Can I help you, love?" he asked.

"I think Regina's right," she replied. "All we can do is wait for this to pass. Do you know where that Skull Island place is?"

"Aye."

"I sent Tink and the bamboo prisons to the beach," Emma said. "That was she could break them out without waking the entire camp. Take Mulan and Red, see if they can tell you anything, then go on to Skull Island."

"Not bloody likely," he said. "I won't abandon you here, Swan."

"Regina will be here with me," she said. "Once I'm free, we'll deal with the prisoners and join up with you."

"But - "

Regina interrupted, "Believe me, pirate. I don't like this either, but we need to work together to get Henry back. And in this instance, that means splitting up."

"Swan, I - "

"Trust me," she said, interrupting him. "I will find you."

* * *

Emma felt the squid ink weakening when the wolf attacked. That gave her an idea. Felix had said that imagination was powerful in Neverland, especially a Lost Boy's imagination. So after Killian, Red, and Mulan left, she turned to Regina to test her theory.

"Put them under a sleeping spell," Emma said.

"You can't be serious about taking twenty-five prisoners."

"It's not about that."

"Fine."

A grey-and-purple mist rolled over the campsite, coming up no higher than Emma's knees. Moments later, all the Lost Boys fell asleep, and the squid ink's hold over her broke.

"Finally," she said. 

"Let's catch up with the others."

"No, Killian was right," Emma replied. "These boys... Pan might not care about them, but he brought them here for a reason."

"For his amusement."

"Exactly," Emma said. "So, let's see how Pan reacts when all his toys are taken away."

"We still have the problem of them outnumbering us. It's not a good idea to leave them aboard, even under the sleeping spell. If Pan wakes them, they could take the ship or destroy it, and we'd lose our ride home."

"You're right, we'll need more than just a sleeping spell."

"What do you suggest?"

"We take their hearts."

Regina's eyes opened wide in surprise. "You're serious?" she asked.

"Pan took Henry," Emma replied. "Every one of them had a hand in it as far as I'm concerned. So are you going to help me or not?"

 

It took them about an hour to take the hearts of the Lost Boys and teleport them to the Jolly Roger's brig. Regina gave instructions to Robin, and he promised to guard the prisoners until their return.

Then they teleported back to the beach. It took another hour to reach Killian and the others. When Tink spotted Regina, hatred flared in her eyes.

"We don't have time for old scores," Emma said preemptively. "Did the Darlings have anything to tell you?"

"We only just freed them," Killian said. "Some kind of bloody magic kept regular blades from working. Only Mulan's sword could cut them free."

He led them to a small fire, where all three Darlings huddled, flanked by Mulan and Red.

"Relax, mate," Killian said to John as he began to panic. "As I said, we're here to get Emma's son back, not to punish Pan's puppets."

"What do you know about Pan's plans for Henry?" Regina asked.

The girl Emma assumed to be Wendy shifted uncomfortably in her seat. 

"Got something to say?" Emma asked her. "You have my word that if you tell us what you know, we will get you out of Neverland. No reprisals, no payback... so long as you don't try anything else."

"We won't!" John said. "I swear, we won't!"

"Then the sooner we get Henry back, the sooner you can go home," Regina said. "So start talking."

"Okay," Wendy said. "Pan forced me to trick Henry. He said if I didn't do what he said, he'd kill Mikey and Johnny, but if I did it, we'd all be freed from his service."

"Yeah, he freed us from his service all right," Michael said. "But then he took us prisoner. Said he'd let the Lost Boys torment us for a while before he killed us."

"What did he make you do?" Emma asked, unwilling to let the conversation drift.

"He had me pretend to be very ill, near death," she replied. "And he made Henry believe that he healed me with his own magic."

"What the bloody hell for?" Killian asked.

"Because he needs Henry to do something," she replied. "And Henry has to choose to do it of his own free will. For that, he must make Henry believe that he is special."

"He is special!" Emma snapped.

"I - I know he is," Wendy said. "I only mean, Pan needs to make Henry feel important. Like he's the only one who can do it. Because whatever it is Pan wants him to do... it's dangerous. It... it could kill him, I think."

"We need to get to Skull Island right now," Emma said.

"I agree," Regina said. 

"Mulan, would it be all right if I sent you back to the ship with the Darlings and Tink?"

"I said I'd help you, and I plan to," Tink protested.

"You don't have magic, and we don't have much time," Emma said.

"I don't need magic," Tink said. "I'm coming with you. I guarantee you will need my help."

"Here, take this," Mulan said, offering Tink her sword. "It can deflect magic."

"Then, you will go back to the ship?" Emma asked.

"Someone will need to get them settled and keep an eye on them," Mulan replied.

With a wave of her hand, yellow-and-gray mists surrounded the four travelers, and they vanished.

"So, I take it you have a plan?" Red asked.

"I'm starting to... let's go."

* * *

Sometimes, Killian felt bloody useless. Emma healed him for the second time today. Looking back on their adventures, he always seemed to be injured, maimed, knocked out, captured, and shot, constantly needing Emma to save him.

But not tonight.

There was a magical barrier around Skull Island that forced them to teleport to the shore. He and Emma had come up with a rough plan that Regina scoffed at, but as she had no better suggestions, she agreed to it.

Discarding her cloak, Red transformed into a wolf, howling as she bounded ahead. Emma and Regina followed after her, leaving Tink and Killian lagging behind, slowly ascending the rocky crag that led inside Skull Rock.

By the time he reached the main cavern, the fight was already raging. Pan was battling Regina and Emma, while the wolf wrestled with his shadow. Killian only caught a glimpse of Henry as he peered out from behind the enormous hour glass.

"Hurry!" Tink said.

They ran to the darkest corner and set the coconut trap. Tink tried to light it with her torch, but it wouldn't take the fire.

"I think it needs magic," she whispered.

"Bloody hell," he muttered.

He took the torch and tried himself but to no avail. He continued to hold the torch to the stubborn wick as he focused his mind on tapping into Emma's magic. He let the flame of his anger, his rage, fill him up, and he felt the dark magic flow through him. The wick lit, and he pulled the torch back.

Tink signaled Red with a whistle. The wolf ran straight for them, leaping over them at the last second, and the shadow followed her until it caught sight of the coconut's flame.

As if lured, the shadow came closer, only to become tangled in the candle's smoke and magic. With a triumphant grunt, Tink slammed the top on, capturing the shadow, which screeched.

"What have you fools done?" Pan shouted. "Fools!"

"A little help here?" Killian said as he grabbed the coconut.

"Killian!" Emma shouted.

He tossed it to her, and she hit it with a stream of continuous fire that erupted from the palms of her hands, consuming the trap and the shadow with it.

Its screams echoed throughout all of Neverland.

Pan threw a bolt of lighting at Regina, which knocked her across the cave. She didn't get back up. He likewise struck Emma aside before he went to Henry, dragging him out of his hiding place.

He and Tink ran to his aid, but they were thrown back by an invisible force. For a few moments, all he could see were rolling black spots. He shifted onto his side, and when his vision cleared, he saw Pan holding Henry by the throat. He struggled to get up, but he couldn't move.

"Give me your heart, and I'll let them lie," Pan demanded as he lifted Henry off his feet.

"Never! You killed my dad!" Henry said furiously.

"Your dad was fool!" Pan retorted. "When I poisoned him with Dreamshade, I saw how pathetic he truly was. I knew Rumpel was a coward, but your father? Well, let's just say I expected more from my grandson. Turns out he was weak and worthless. But you, my boy, you are worth everything to me. Or, at least your heart is."

Henry's expression must've given him pause, because Pan said, "Oh, you didn't know? Rumpel was my son. That makes you my great grandson, Henry. And while I was told you had to give me your heart of your own free will, I'm at the point now where testing that limitation is my best option. What do you think about that?"

Then he shoved his hand into Henry's chest, and the boy cried out.

But then Pan screamed when Red's teeth sunk into his leg. He retracted the arm from Henry's chest to fling Red into the wall. 

"When this is all over, I'm going to have a werewolf fur coat. Isn't that lovely, Henry?" Pan asked. "Now, where were we? Oh, right."

But before he could shove his hand back inside, a fireball hit him square in the chest. It apparently stunned him, as he released Henry, who fell to the ground grasping for breath.

"You will never touch my son again!" Emma said.

Pan laughed, flying into the air, but Emma knocked him sideways with another fireball. The demon's smile slipped, but only for a moment, then he redoubled his attack.

But Emma was his equal. Fireballs, lightning, blasts of magic that shook the entire cave. She threw everything she had at him, and after a minute or so, Killian and Tink were free to move again.

"Get the boy out of here," he said to Tink.

She didn't hesitate. She took Henry's hand, and they ran. The wolf followed. 

"No!" Pan shouted. "That boy's heart is _mine_!"

Emma's entire body transformed as her rage and fury fueled her magic. For a moment, she appeared to be made of nothing but shadow, and then she let out a wail - a long, harsh scream - that unleashed magic so powerful that Pan was blasted back and flattened like a pancake. He shrieked as his bones crushed under the weight of the spell, and he crumpled into a heap on the cave floor.

And he didn't move. 

"Crushing curse," Regina said, apparently no longer unconscious. "That's dark magic, Savior."

"It worked, didn't it?" she snapped.

"Where's Henry?" Regina asked.

"Tink and Red took him outside. Would you go and take them back to the ship?"

"What about you?" Regina asked.

"We won't be long," Emma replied. "We can't leave until my shadow gets back from its first trip today. If this didn't kill him, I need to bind him. Buy us some time."

"Fine, but don't take too long."

Regina left the cave, and Emma cast something over Pan's decrepit body.

"Binding spell?" Killian asked.

"A minor one, just in case he wakes up before we're done."

He was going to ask her what she meant, but she turned to him and her face gave him all the answers he needed. He hadn't seen _that_ look since they landed in a Land without Magic. Her eyes were black with only a hint of emerald, and her expression was hungry, feral.

"Bloody hell."

* * *

Emma felt it when she crushed Pan against the cave wall: The Dark One, just under the surface. She smiled at the sound of Pan's screams and the cracking of his bones. The pure and utter joy she experienced from his pain was telling enough.

And it didn't end there. The magic was bubbling inside her, begging her to unleash agony upon Pan, to thrash him bloody and grind whatever was left of him into dust. It was enthralling, and it made her forget the reason she was here.

She forgot that Henry's heart was nearly stolen. 

That realization should've shocked her out of this high, but it didn't. She was disgusted with herself, but everything she felt - disgust, mistrust, disbelief, horror, pain, confusion, fear - was a faint flicker of flame against the overwhelming darkness that filled her with euphoria, pleasure, and control.

She couldn't let Henry see her like this. Hell, she couldn't risk Regina seeing her like this. She felt like she might explode with dark magic.

So she got Regina to leave as quickly as possible, and she put a containment spell around Pan to keep him in his compressed - and hopefully, agonizingly painful - state. For the time being at least.

Then her eyes fell on Killian, and she could think about was devouring him. When was the last time they had sex? She couldn't remember. Far too long, then.

She needed him.

She pulled him across the cavern with magic, closing the distance between them, and his expression went from surprised to confused to hungry all in the span of a few seconds.

He brought his lips down over hers, and her blood hummed in anticipation. She yanked him in tighter, crushing their lips together before nipping at his bottom lip. He gasped, and she thrust his tongue between his open lips, the salty-rum taste of his mouth spurring her on.

He moaned as his hands came up around her, and the power beneath her skin crackled in sensuous agreement. She wanted him kneeling, and he abruptly fell to his knees, as if her thought alone dragged him down.

He pushed her tunic and coat up, frantically searching for skin to kiss. He trailed his lips along her stomach. He fumbled briefly with her trousers, unbuttoning them and unzipping them, before sliding his hands down and around her ass, cupping it as he scrapped his teeth down her protruding hipbones. She bucked forward in surprise, and he squeezed her ass again, playing with the line of her underwear but not moving it.

Every time skin touched skin, she felt crackling energy release. Sparks literally flew when his hand skimmed up her core, and she had to focus on holding back the tidal wave of power inside her when that same hand cupped her breast, teasing the nipple through the fabric. All the while, his lips moved lower and lower as he tugged her underwear out of the way millimeter by millimeter.

It was too much and not enough. Normally sex like this grounded her by forcing her to experience the physical sensations and redirecting her focus on Killian: smelling him, touching him, tasting him, hearing him, and - oh dear God - feeling him. But this time his touch didn't divert her energies; no, this time, every ounce of pleasure stoked the fire, revving up her magic. Part of her knew it was dangerous, but it was so invigorating and tantalizing that she couldn't care about the risk.

She raked her fingers through his hair, encouraging his ministrations. If the noises he made were any indication, he felt it all too: the magic, the energy, the indulgent pleasure doubling, tripling, as it passed between them.

She couldn't stand it anymore. 

She shoved him back, hard, and he crashed to the cave floor before straightening his legs. She waved her hand, and his trousers and underwear vanished along with her own.

She licked her lips at the sight of his cock springing to life, thick, hard, and weeping against his stomach. Her pirate's eyes were already blown out with lust, but he must've known she wanted him on his back because he didn't move an inch as she walked over him. He was perfect, beautiful, and all hers.

One hand went to her hip eagerly as she straddled him, and the other took hold of his erection, lining himself up with her, anticipation etched into his face. She felt it, too, and not just from her soaking wet center that ached for his member. No, her entire body was desperate to ride him hard on the stone floor, soaking up everything he could give her.

If sparks erupted from their skin contact, what would happen when she sank down over his length, taking him inside to the hilt? The possibilities were exhilarating.

"Emma," he pleaded with a breathy moan.

He was wrecked.

She enveloped him in one fluid movement, and they both moaned at the sudden friction. The ground beneath them shook briefly.

Before they even started moving, she felt it. All the magic inside her began to flow like a river, running into him from where they were joined, and returning to her even stronger.

It was incredible. She wanted more, and she needed more. She kept still, ignoring the slight burn of stretching around him, and reached out for his hand, tangling their fingers together. The magic, and the pleasure it brought with it, began to flow through their fingers as well. If she cared to look away from his face, she would've seen that wherever they touched, there was a iridescent darkness that shined from underneath their skin. 

"Emma, please, move," he said.

"Make me, pirate."

Everything shifted as he brought his knees up under her so he could plant his feet on the ground. She was thrown forward and forced to put her free hand on the ground to keep her balance, and before she could react, his free hand tangled in her hair, bringing her down into a ferocious kiss. 

The sensations were absolutely overwhelming. She moaned helplessly into his mouth before he even had a chance to thrust. It must've put him over the edge, because his hips began to piston in earnest, going from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye.

Had she been paying attention, she would've noticed that the entire cave shook with their every moment. But she was too wrapped up in Killian to care about the world around them. She pushed back, meeting him thrust for thrust, quacking the pace as they devoured one another in a fury of passion.

She wanted to slow down, draw it out, make it last forever. Who knows when - or if - they'd ever fuck like this again? The electricity between them had been amplified a thousand times over, dragging them both into a plane of elevated pleasure that felt like it lasted hours instead of minutes. 

But it went deeper than that. She felt connected to him on another level, as if their bodies were one and the same. She felt whole and powerful as her body throbbed with carnal ecstasy.

"Killian, fuck, don't stop."

She couldn't slow down. She couldn't savor it. She needed to see him come. She needed to come apart around him.

"Oh, gods!" Killian shouted as his thrusts became more erratic. "Emma!"

The cave was filled stuttering half-words and rapturous moans, echoing off one another, blocking out all other sound, even a nearby avalanche cascading into to ocean went unheard.

His hips snapped forward and hit that spot inside her, and her walls clamped down over his cock as her mind went blissfully and completely blank. For a time - seconds, hours, days, who could tell - there was nothing but his body and hers finally climaxing together. As they rode out their shared orgasms, the magic that had been doubling and redoubling between them finally released, sending out a shockwave that all of Neverland felt.

She collapsed on top of Killian, completely spent. 

The wind scattered her hair and chilled her as it cooled her sweat, cutting the afterglow short.

She lifted her head and saw that they were no longer protected by walls. They weren't inside Skull Rock.

In fact, Skull Rock, and most of Skull Island, had fallen into the water, taking Pan's body in its cursed state down into the depths of the ocean.

**Author's Note:**

> Fear not! For Her Dark Works continues with Episode #18 "[Strike the Colors](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6175804/chapters/14149375)."


End file.
